In the past such games have customarily been played by a single spectator player (hereinafter referred to simply as a `player`), playing alone against the cunning of the apparatus, and seeking only the reward of a high score or else some payment for achieving a certain result. Where such games have been capable of being played by more than one player, they customarily involved a manner of play in which each player played the game in turn against the apparatus to achieve a high score, that is, the players played sequentially. There was no simultaneous play by the various players, and there was thus no contest among them to outwit one another in playing the game. Examples of such sequentially-played games are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,093,232 and 4,198,051 which disclose pinball games, and moreover the use in such games of programmed logic means in the form of microprocessors.
Furthermore, in such prior art games where the player had the option to impel a movable object such as a ball, the only choice before the player lay in the timing of the impelling action so as to strike a moving ball at the right instant. There was no choice of specific direction in which to impel the ball, nor was there an option to impede the ball rather than to impel it.
Other spectator-controlled games involving the use of micro-processors are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,026,555 and 4,093,223. However, in those games, only two players exercise, in turn, their specific choices to determine the play of the movable object. In the former specification the players have a choice of, inter alia, the direction in which to impel the movable object, whilst in the latter specification the players are penalized for, inter alia, their failure to make a choice within a prescribed time interval.
The present invention seeks to provide apparatus for playing a game in which at least three players can play simultaneously throughout the game, preferably as opposing teams, to determine the movement of a movable object. Moreover, the present invention seeks to provide a game in which each player has to select one of a plurality of different options, including the option to impel or obstruct the object, and the option to impel the object in one of a plurality of different directions. Additionally, the present invention seeks to provide a game in which the players need to exercise their options with great speed so as to avoid having their choices discounted.